The Preferred Concept Plans for the downtown park and the parkland behind the CMCC were developed by Landscape Planning and presented to Council on March 17th.
They were developed after considering a variety of stakeholder feedback to several conceptual design plans made available to the public in the fall of 2024. Feedback on the concepts was collected at Open House events, through surveys and in-person meetings with user groups. The March report provided further details on the preferred plans and included possible phasing and implementation recommendations and incorporated budget concerns and conservation authority restrictions. The concept designs were intended to be the tool to guide future recreation investments in the municipality.
At the March meeting, a staff report recommended that Council establish a parks taskforce to further fine-tune the preferred site plans to select specific features and prioritize their installation, subject to funding availability. The seven-member committee included the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, two township staff members and four residents who applied to participate in the group. Together they reviewed the plan suggestions, considered community feedback and focused the plan to include the features that seemed most desirable and affordable for both the downtown park and the parkland behind the CMCC.
These designs are currently being fleshed out by Landscape Planning Limited to generate final versions that can be used to obtain construction quotes. The design costs have already been covered in the 2026 capital budget. Request for Proposal quotes received will determine what aspects of each project will receive a green light and when work will commence.
For the downtown park, the work in the initial phase will focus on preparing the site, establishing key infrastructure such as service installations, creating primary walkways and the parking lot, the construction of two universal washrooms and sod installation. The intention is that funding for this initial phase of the project will be covered by the remainder of the Investing in Canada Infra-structure program grant funding approved in 2021 for which a scope change was approved in 2025. The Second Phase will go forward as budget permits.
Phase 1 plans for the remaining lands at the CMCC follows a similar path, where servicing and grading are the first step in the project, along with the installation of four outdoor beach volleyball courts for which the municipality received a Com-munity Investment Fund grant of$100,000 from Ontario Hydro. The initial phase will also seethe installation of the parking lot closest to these courts, connecting pathways and the planting of sod, trees and shrubs in this vicinity. All of these activities are subject to funding availability. Phase 2 will include the installation of electrical services for these courts, along with the addition of four pickle ball courts and a single tennis court, some benches and shade structures. In the final stage there will be more benches, an additional parking lot, a shade structure with seating and a concrete pad for the relocation of the outdoor fitness equipment.
Projects of this scale are expensive but also transformative. Because of their expense, they are implemented over many years. Grants from private and public sources can help expedite projects like these. With detailed plans and cost estimates in hand, staff will be equipped to submit funding applications when these opportunities arise.
Please see the township website for designs and progress updates.